In the field of audio communications, utilizing magnetic tape, the present state of the art is limited in flexibility. This excludes magnetic tape from many applications that require rapid retrieval or random access to specific tape increments of recorded materials. Some of these applications are as follows: "jukebox" music; certain types of computer data; storage banks of educational units of study; broadcast spot announcements; random access to recorded musical selections stored, for example, in automobile trunks; emergency or sales promotion announcements in public buildings; and airport flight announcements, which may be multi-lingual recordings.
All of the above presently excluded applications and many more may be made practical or improved by the present invention.
Most magnetic tapes in the audio communications field are of the reel-to-reel type. Accordingly, considerable time is required to wind or rewind such tapes to position the tape at a given recorded message. This curtails the utilization of such reel-to-reel tapes for quick retrieval. Furthermore, the cost of complex handling equipment has been prohibitive.